WASHINGTON — The conservative American Action Network launched a $4 million advertising campaign Tuesday to throw its weight behind congressional Republicans’ alternative to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s marquee drug pricing bill.
It’s a striking show of support for the GOP bill, which party leaders rushed to introduce the same week that the House was set to vote on Pelosi’s bill in December. Until now, the group has focused only on opposing the Pelosi bill — not on pushing for the Republican alternative.
Republicans maintain that their bill, which would cap seniors drug costs at $3,100 a year and crack down on certain so-called bad behaviors by the drug industry, is bipartisan and could be signed into law by President Trump — unlike, they say, the Pelosi bill, which includes far more aggressive drug pricing reforms and is almost unanimously opposed by Republicans and the Trump administration.
About the Author Reprints
I realize nuance is not a thing in today’s political arena. On both sides of the aisle, rhetoric tends to trump (pardon the pun) substance. But, this advertising campaign takes the cake. By splattering the word “socialist” across pictures of Pelosi, Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders, and Warren its message is that all Democrats have a socialist plan for healthcare. Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders are democratic socialists. Both advocate a single payer approach to healthcare that can be characterized as socialist. But, Pelosi and Warren are not democratic socialists. Warren has recently retreated from a Medicare for All stance. Pelosi has never been a Medicare for All supporter. And, while I am critical of H.R. 3 it is not a socialist plan.
Government intervention is not socialist per sé. Policies, or legislative bills like H.R. 3, need to be evaluated on their merits and demerits, and not derided with inappropriate labels. There’s plenty to criticize regarding H.R. 3 without labeling it socialist.
As per usual, a bill that has no purpose other than shifting costs from patients to taxpayers at large, while keeping profit of pharma and insurance companies untouched and untamed price hiking